Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Verbena hybrida cultivar USBENAL17.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Verbena plant, botanically known as Verbena hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98USBENAL17xe2x80x99.
The new Verbena is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Hikone, Shiga, Japan. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new disease-resistant and high temperature-tolerant Verbena cultivars with semi-upright plant habit and attractive flower coloration.
The new Verbena originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor on Apr. 20, 1999 of an unknown selection of Verbena hybrida, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with an unnamed proprietary selection of Verbena hybrida, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar USBENAL17 was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny from this cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Bonsall, Calif. on Jun. 10, 2000.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by cuttings taken at Bonsall, Calif., since Jun. 20, 2000, has shown that the unique features of this new Verbena are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98USBENAL17xe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98USBENAL17xe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Semi-upright and outwardly spreading plant habit.
2. Vigorous growth habit.
3. Large red purple-colored flowers.
4. Resistant to Powdery Mildew.
In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Hikone, Shiga, Japan, plants of the new Verbena differed from plants of the female parent selection in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Verbena were not as upright as plants of the female parent selection.
2. Plants of the new Verbena were more vigorous than plants of the female parent selection.
3. Plants of the new Verbena were resistant to Powdery Mildew whereas plants of the female parent selection were susceptible to Powdery Mildew.
In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Hikone, Shiga, Japan, plants of the new Verbena differed from plants of the male parent selection primarily in flowering time as plants of the new Verbena flowered earlier than plants of the male parent selection.
The new Verbena can be compared to the cultivar, Temari Coral Pink, not patented. However, in side-by-side comparisons conducted in Bonsall, Calif., plants of the new Verbena differed from plants of the cultivar Temari Coral Pink in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Verbena were more upright than plants of the cultivar Temari Coral Pink.
2. Plants of the new Verbena flowered earlier than plants of the cultivar Temari Coral Pink.
3. Plants of the new Verbena had larger flowers than plants of the cultivar Temari Coral Pink.